have a great day. "newsroom" starts now. and good morning, everyone. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining me. today, the world is gathering in south africa to pay tribute to a global icon. thousands of mourners braving heavy rains to attend the official memorial service for nelson mandela. 100 current heads of state and former leaders, including jimmy carter, bill clinton and george w. bush. just behind them, archbishop desmond tutu. president and mrs. obama, drawing cheers from the crowds. these words from president obama, to honor a man he called a personal hero. >> we know like south africa the united states had to overcome centuries of racial subrogation. as was true here, it took sacrifice, sacrifice of

countless people, known and unknown, to see the dawn of a new day. michelle and i are beneficiaries of that struggle. but in america and in south africa, and in countries all around the globe, we cannot allow our progress to cloud the fact that our work is not yet done. the struggles that follow the victory of former equality where universal franchise may not be as filled with drama and moral clarity as those that came before but they are no less important. for around the world today, we still see children suffering from hunger and disease. we still see run-down schools. we still see young people with prospects for the future. around the world today, men and

women are still in prison for their political beliefs and are still persecuted for what they look like, and how they worship and who they love! >> mr. obama's remarks clearly resonated. he received a standing ovation from diagrgnitaries on the stag and others at the service in south africa. shaking hands with the cuban president, rachlt ul castro. in recent years, the ice has melted just a bit. jim acosta is traveling with the president. he joins us now on the phone. good morning, jim. >> reporter: good morning, carol. that's right. i want to caution our viewers that we are in the presidential motorcade as we speak. so, sometimes the secret service in their protection of the president can wreak havoc on our cell devices. i don't want to lose you but it was a stirring rendition to nelson mandela.

part history lesson and part celebration of the life of the man known to south africans as madiba. carol, you ran through really great highlights of the speech when the president talked about nelson mandela being not just a prisoner, but also the president who forgave his jailers. he also tried to make it a message that was tailored not just to a global audience but a domestic one as well. you heard the president talking about children suffering from hunger and disease, run-down schools. those are issues that people can relate to not just in places like detroit and other inner cities in the united states but in countries around the world. it was a message that was trying to reach across a global stage. at the same time, carol, it also struck me as how personal the message was. at one point, president obama said nelson mandela makes me want to be a better man. you mentioned raul castro, of course, with nearly 100 world leaders gathered at this event, there were bound to be

surprises. raul castro was on the diaz and speaking, as well as president obama. it would have been sort the of impolite. it would have been kind of a slap, really, if the president had gone up on stage and not greeted the cuban leader. that's par for the course at these types of events. as you also know, carol, he embraced president russov of brazil, a country that has been steamed at the united states because of those surveillance issues. he is headed away from the stadium and headed back to a rendezvous point before heading back to the united states. carol? >> going back to that handshake, maybe scottie can put it back up on the screen, the handshake between president obama and raul castro. quote, we have to reject the policies we put into place in 1961. in other words, it's time to end the nation's cold war standoff with cuba. i know what you said about this

handshake, jim, but this surely helps, doesn't it? >> well, i think we're going to have to see. keep in mind, at the same time just in the last couple of weeks there was a big protest outside the white house held by the family of alan gross, an american still being held in cuba to this day. he has been there for four years. i'm not sure how much a handshake up on the stage here in johannesburg is going to melt away this cold war that continues between the united states and cuba, quite frankly. there's still a lot of issues to resolve. but at the same time, it is something that perhaps might start something. we'll have to just wait and see how that works out. the obama administration has tried to open up things a little bit to the cuban government, allowing cuban americans to travel more frequently to the island and that sort of thing. but at this point, this whole situation with alan gross being kept the prisoner in cuba is really an impediment to improve relations with the white house. at least according to senior

administration officials. they said repeatedly that that gentleman, alan gross, must be released from his imprisonment in cuba for things to improve with the yunited states and tha country. >> his health isn't fathring so well. south africans brave the heavy rains to honor nelson mandela. his grandson called mandela my hero. robyn curnow joins us with some of the best moments. >> reporter: it has just ended, the memorial service for nelson mandela and as it started, take a listen. song, dance, a celebration of this great man's life. we just saw winnie mandela, his ex-wife, hug archbishop desmond tutu. big smiles on their faces. these two were really symbols of the anti-apartmenheid struggle

while he was in jail. who else was here? bono, other celebrities. we saw leaders, sitting world leaders from more than 19 on mix trithens of thousands of south africans. all of them here. there was a slight damper, quite heavy rain throughout the service. that didn't stop people from celebrating and paying his grao say. >> a group of trees break the wind but the tree that towers above the rest is broken by the wind. child of the wind, of the land. de, men, wen and ch m liveeying at the crucible time in our land, we salute you.

>> reporter: so these extraordinary scenes continue. the singing, the dancing. and then we see now nelson mandela's widow slightly bent over, being escorted out of here under an umbrella. it's starting to rain again. people will slowly make their way out of the stadium. the events, the celebration, the mourning will continue day after day until sunday. he will be lying in state for the next three days as of tomorrow. and then his body will be flown to a remote area where he was born, where he grew up and there will be a state funeral there on sunday. >> all right. robyn curnow, thank you so much, reporting live from johannesburg this morning. other news we're following, the ice storm that's gripped the east coast. this is a live picture from pittsburgh. it's now snowing. philadelphia, d.c., expecting to

see plenty of snow in the coming hours. federal if offices in d.c. close dade because of the weather. chris lawrence joins us now from the national mall. good morning, chris. >> reporter: hey, good morning, carol. yeah, it's like a white blanket is being dropped over the nation's capital here on the national mall, up the street at the white house as well. not only the federal government, but most schools in this area are closed, a lot of businesses as well. not so much for what's already accumulated, obviously, but more about what possibly could come. the skiing, the pile-ups, the bitter freezing cold. and it's not over yet. monday's commutes were nasty. the snow and ice snarling traffic on the ground and the air. drivers resorted to pushing their cars over slippery overpasses and bridges zplt roads are in terrible shape, slippery, slidy and very slow.

>> reporter: in new jersey, causing school closings and delays. >> i'm panicking. it's coming in under the condo. i'm on the bottom floor. that's the last thing i need, to have my duct work and everything else destroyed again. >> reporter: power lines covered in ice left thousands without power, putting utility crews out in full force, trying to restore service before the upcoming storm. more than 1,700 flights were canceled monday. further aggravating travelers, some stuck in airports for days. road crews working overtime at this hour to keep streets safe for commuters, hopes of preventing more deadly accidents, like this massive pile-up in yonkers, new york. 40 people were hurt when slick roads caused 20 cars to collide late sunday night. and near milwaukee, wisconsin, a traffic camera captured this horrifying 30-car pile-up as it happened, with car after car

crashing in to each other, shutting down the highway. >> i would see him go southbound and see their taillights disappear in the snow. i would see the brake lights come on and jump up or go off to the side or spin. and you knew it was just happening and i was just praying to god that nobody was going to die. >> reporter: same highway, another pileup a few miles away. one person died when dozens of vehicles rear ended each other. i hope we don't see any more accidents like that one. this is exactly the kind of snow that tends to accumulate pretty quickly. it is thick, wet and coming down very, very steadily. and while it is accumulating a bit on the ground and on those of us who are standing outside here, not so much on the roads. it's wet, sure. little bit slick. but not much accumulation so far. carol? >> and that is good news. chris lawrence, thanks so much. maybe not the best news, though, in new york city.

let's head there now and check in with fred pleichten. >> reporter: new york was quite lucky this morning. the snow didn't really kick in until the end of the morning rush hour. it started in earnest about 8:30, 9:00. by that time the rush hour had already sort of started to end. the city is prepared for something like this. it has some 1800 pieces of equipment around the city today, including 365 salt spreaders spreading that sort of pumpkin colored salt here in the streets. they go out immediately when something like this starts, when the snow starts coming down. snow plows start working later when the snow starts laying on the ground. that's not the case just yet. it seems as though it's still a little too warm. the ground is still a little too warm for the snow to remain on the ground.

we are expecting two to four inches here in the new york area. what we're hearing is that there are several schools in the suburbs that have closed for the day. here in the city, things are still going quite okay. the snow is expected to continue. carol? >> i think there are problems at the airport. if you're heading to the airplane and you live in new york city or anywhere along the east coast, call ahead. there are airport delays already. thanks so much, fred pleitgen, reporting live from new york city. still ahead in the "newsroom," general motors naming its first female c oechlt. alison kosik has all the details. >> first female ceo is replacing dan ackerson. gm is today no longer part of the government control. so, that story is coming up. humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems.

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checking our top stories, the obama administration is fighting back against a plan, calling it counterproductive to the diplomacy under way. george zimmerman's girlfriend says she wants the domestic violence against him dropped. court document where samantha shivey says she wants a no contact order now lifted. she is now saying he never pointed a gun at her last month, disputing what police said she told them. nasa rover curiosity found a

lake that could have supported microbes. 30 miles long by three miles wide. and this just in to cnn. general motors has named product development head mary bara as its next ceo. she will be the first female in the company -- first female ceo, i should say, for the company because they've had other female employees. >> female ceo at gm. she is really the first ceo of the global automative industry. this is getting a lot of buzz right now. she's 51 years old, has been with general motors 33 years, has really been a superstar at gm, risen through the ranks and hases known to have really helped in general motors turn around since general motors

filed for bankruptcy and then came back. she's really helped to sort of develop its product line and helped with customer satisfaction. so this is making news today. this should go into effect january 15th when dan ackerson is expected to step down. the timing of this is also very interesting. what happened yesterday was the treasury announced that it sold its final chunk of gm stock. you have to remember, when uncle sam bailed out general motors, it wound up pumping in $49 billion into the automaker. here is the thing. it got back less money, $39 billion. guess who got stuck with that difference right there -- taxpayers, $10 billion. were out $10 billion. jack lew said the alternative could have been worse. others say it was a small price to pay for saving 1.2 million jobs and keeping the great recession from becoming the great depression. one of the great fears was that gm's failure could have wiped out suppliers, setting off a

chain reaction where ford may have had to file for bankruptcy because of lack of auto parts. gm stock has had a really good run this year, up about 42%. carol? >> wow! that's good news. >> you're seeing the government sell at a high point for gm but still having that $10 billion loss, that stings for taxpayers. >> certainly does. but many jobs were kept, right? >> exactly. and that's the glass half full right there. >> i'm trying. >> i know. >> alison kosik, thank you so much. just ahead in the "newsroom," a bride is accused of killing her husband to escape their eight-day old marriage. the defense is saying it was a tragic mistake, tragic accident. a report from outside the courtroom after a break. my customers can shop around. but it doesn't usually work that way with health care. with unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors,

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in montana, prosecutors say a woman was so desperate to get out of her marriage, she shoved her husband over a cliff on their honeymoon. she is accused of murdering her husband of only eight day, cody johnson. friends who felt betrayed by jordan's constantly changing stories when her husband was first reported missing. kyung lah is outside the courtroom in missoula, montana. >> carol, there's no dispute here about what happened, that cody johnson did, indeed, fall to his death. the question is whether or not this is an intentional planned crime or just a terrible

accident. jordan graham waited for the cameras outside of court, on trial now for pushing her husband of eight days in the back off the cliff at glasher national park. prosecutors say despite appearing in love in her wedding video, graham was distraught. her matron of honor back on the stand, testifying after a few days after the wedding, graham sent numerous text messages, expressing regret to her marriage to cody johnson sheechlt texted, i should be happy and i'm just not. i've never cried this much in my entire life and even, i don't want to live. >> what was it like to be in that courtroom and see jordan? >> obviously, it was very nerve racking. >> jennifer toren, another friend, was visibly shaken after testifying that graham had lied to her. toren testified one day after johnson plunged to his death, she got this text from graham.

some park buddies from seattle came to the house yesterday and he went with them. i wasn't there. the last thing he said to me was that he was going for a drive with some friends that were visiting. it was a bold-faced lie, to cover up that her husband was lying dead at the bottom of a cliff. it would be days before graham eventually confessed the truth to police. >> do you have a second to talk to us? >> i cannot. i cannot. >> reporter: while the prosecutor would not speak on camera, he said in court, graham planned then lied about the murder, driven by her desire to get out of her marriage. the defense said graham did, indeed, have regrets but called her a naive, socially inept young woman, just 21 at the time of her husband's death, the fall a terrible accident. she says they were fighting, he grabbed her, she pushed him away and he fell to his death. why the lies? a young bride afraid that the world wouldn't believe her. the prosecution continues its

case, planning on calling approximately 30 witnesses in its attempt to prove that jordan graham was a distraught bride with an intent to kill. carol? >> kyung lah reporting. thanks. deeper look at the legacy of nelson mandela as people of all backgrounds come together to pay tribute to the former south african president. will his legacy will on? that conversation, next. l like ? i'm thinking the ford fusion... ho, ho, ho!....the what? i need a car that's stylish and fashionable... especially in my line of work. now do you have a little lemonade stand? guys, i'm in fashion! but i also need amazing tech too... like active park assist... it practically parks itself. and what color would you like? i'll have my assistant send you over some swatches... oh... get a fusion with 0% financing for 60 months, plus $500 ford credit holiday bonus cash during the ford dream big sales event.

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after recalling its new gum. [ male announcer ] stick it to the market before you get stuck. get the most extensive charting wherever you are with the mobile trader app from td ameritrade. good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining me. checking our top stories at 31 minutes past the hour, nasty weather has left much of the nation in deep freeze is expecting to bring plenty of snow to several major east coast cities today. this is what it looks like right now in richmond, virginia. a lovely mix of rain and snow. it's about 35 degrees. live picture for you now from philadelphia, where the snow is coming down a little harder.

it's about 34 degrees in philly. philly and washington could see up to seven inches of snow today. speaking of d.c., federal buildings are closed because of the weather. it's snowing there, too. it's 34 now. and in hartford, connecticut, it's not looking much better. balmy 33 degrees. it will only get colder as the day goes on. please, be careful. 18 current and former los angeles county sheriff's deputies have been indicted after an fbi investigation into alleged abuse and corruption at the nation's largest county jail. fbi says they found, quote, a wide scope of illegal conduct. spokesperson says they uncovered a pattern of excessive force and unlawful arrests. opening bell just rang on wall street. stock futures a little lower after the s&p hit a record on monday. alison kosik is following it

all. >> such a run-up this year so far. investors are catching their breaths, waiting on the next big catalyst. that will be the fed's next move. three influential members of the fed spoke publicly yesterday, basically saying they're okay with pulling back on how much money that the fed has been pumping into the economy. in fact, they have a two-day meeting happening next week and a change in what the fed has been doing. that could be decided then. if it does, the market seems to be pretty comfortable with the idea at this point. lately the data that's been coming out on housing, economic growth and jobs seems to be improving. the thinking is that the economy may just be able to handle it when the fed takes off the training wheels. carol? >> i hope you're right. alison kosik, thank you so much. ♪ >> joy, an unusual way to describe a beloved leaders memorial. in south africa today, it was swroious. even the pouring rain meant

something special. it meant good luck. there was song, dancing and too many world leaders to count. everyone from afghanistan's hamid karzai to cuba's raul castro to american presidents bush, carter and clinton and obama. president obama spoke to a standing ovation. >> 30 years ago while still a student i learned of nelson mandela and the struggles taking place in this beautiful land. and it stirred something in me. it woke me up to my responsibilities, to others and to myself. and it set me on an improbable journey that finds me here today and while i will always fall short of madiba's example, he makes me want to be a better man. he speaks to what's best inside

us. >> reverend, senior pastor at ebeneezer baptist church and author of "the divided mind: the black church." welcome. >> good to be here, carol. >> president obama says mandela speaks to what's best inside each of us. many americans don't believe politicians are capable of this. still, it was wonderful to see presidents clinton, bush, carter and obama all together, mourning the same man in the same way. going forward, what do we take away from this? >> well, we witness today, carol, a moving tribute to a powerful and incredible man. the fact is he was more than a politician. he was a politician with moral authority. and that is, perhaps, because he moved from the margins to the mainstream. we witnessed really one of the most transformational figures in the modern era.

if we are to pay tribute to president mandela, while we stand in awe of his legacy, we must somehow move from awe to action. that's what he would have us do, to continue the hard work which he began. i was inspired as i watched people who don't normally stand in the same room, let alone on the same stage come together. he pitched a big tent, in life and in death. and all of us are better because of it. >> to see so many world leaders, i guess there were 100 world leaders there, past and former, everyone from hamid karzai to raul castro to, of course, the american presidents. the tea party republican ted cruz was also in attendance. he was sharply criticized for writing this pacebofacebook pos. writing nelson mandela will live in history for defenders of liberty around the globe. we mourn his loss and offer our condolences to his family and the people of south africa.

some are calling ted cruz a traitor of sorts. they feel mandela was a communist, terrorist and racist even. others on his facebook page put it this way. i'll quote one of those who posted. ted cruz's pander to the most vile racist, that they are attacking him for the one thing he said in recent history, when you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas. what would mandela have said about this? >> we have to reflect on the life and legacy. persecution and the power. he went into a prison cell but as a result of prison labor, his eyesight was dim but his vision was never impaired. he saw the world not as it was,

but as it could be. and so i'm glad that mr. cruz has been inspired by mr. mandela. i think he ought to be instructed by president mandela. the fact is that if you play to the french, if the mainstream goes out of its way to coddle the fringe, the fringe will become the mainstream and you'll find yourself sewn up in a bag that's difficult even for you to escape. this is not the first time we've heard these kinds of words, marxist, socialist, communist, terrorist. we've heard these ugly labels, if you will, code words aimed at another black president, president obama, who i think paid a moving and powerful tribute to nelson mandela, who inspired president obama and inspires all of us. >> you said that you hope senator cruz is instructed by mandela's legacy. in what way? >> i think as the president talked this morning about the fact that our work continues, it

is not incredibly difficult to pay hommage to the movement and making south africa strong, unified, democratic and nonracist society that president mandela talked about continues, but this work continues as the president talked about the need to make sure that children do not go hungry and that we don't have run-down schools. those are problems not only in south africa, but in the united states of america. for us, carol, i hope this will be a teachable moment, that we will raise the conversation in our own nation, go to a higher moral plane that, we will focus on the things that bring us together. when the people at the bottom have what they need, basic needs, basic things that make for human dignity, education,

food, a living wage, that the whole society is made better. if we cash in this moment, if we build monuments rather than a better world, we will not pay the tribute to nelson mandela that he justly deserves. >> raphael warnock, senior pastor from the ebenezer baptist church in miami. >> so good to be here. >> thanks for being here. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] what if the next big thing, isn't a thing at all?

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tragic ending for a pod of stranded pilot whales. in the last week nearly half of the group, 22 whales, died in florida's everglade's national park. 29 survivors. they warn that all of them could die, too. so why can't they save these whales? >> unfortunately, this is a pretty typical pattern with pilot whales. they have a tendency to all beach together. whereas some other whales can come on the beach one at a time, these guys have a tendency to strand as a group, it has something probably to do with their social structure they have. when one of them goes on the beach for whatever reason the others are inclined to follow. >> it's like a mass suicide. it's very strange to think about. >> it is and, to be honest, we don't completely understand why they do this. the lead animal could get sick and causes all the other animals to follow them on to the beach. we really don't know a lot of the time. it's a bit of a scientific

enigma. >> there was a virus that affected dolphins not so long ago. could this virus be partially to blame for some of these whales dying? >> probably not. pilot whales can carry the virus that's affecting dolphins currently along the eastern u.s. 800 dolphins have died between july and now. and most of have tested positive for the virus. they are probably unrelated. it's a coincidence. >> one last question, because people always say, why can't we vaks night this animal life and protect them from viruses like this? >> we would love to be able to do something like that for them but we're a long way from understanding the diseases that affect marine life. we know these diseases are telling us that the ocean is sick and we need to pay more attention to the health of the oceans. unfortunately we're a long way from being able to vaccinate the dolphins. >> thank you for coming in

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zimmerman,. checking our top stories at 49 minutes past the hour. rescuers are desperately trying to find a couple and four missing children on a snowy nevada mountain. the search is taking place in pershing county in northwest nevada where the temperatures dipped below zero. james glanton and christina macintee disappeared with glanton's two children and macintee's niece and nephew. the six went out to play in the snow and haven't been seen since. >> the temperatures out here are very cold and we'd like to bring a successful end to this.

we would like to find them. just as soon as we can. >> we just got to find them. we've known them forever, you know. those little tiny kids can't be out there, none can be out there in the cold. >> about a dozen search and rescue team members are helping in the search. a navy helicopter is also involved. earlier today, caroline kennedy, the newest u.s. ambassador to japan, visited the nagasaki atomic bomb museum and meeting with survivors of the 1945 atomic bombing which killed as many as 80,000 people. sarah palin going back outdoors for a new tv series. the sportsman channel will air "amazing america with sarah palin" that starts in april. former governor hosted "sarah palin's alaska" on tlc a few years ago. the new show will focus on stories about hunting, fishing and shooting. oscar winner ben affleck is opening up about a dangerous stalker threatening his family. he says thanks to the gangs of paparazzi that follow his family around, this stalker was able to blend in and snap photos of his

children as they were leaving preschool. michele turner has more for you. >> reporter: an angry ben affleck is blasting the photographers who he says constantly follow his family, like in this hollywood.tv video. >> don't talk to my kids. is that clear? >> no problem. >> okay. >> in a new interview with "playboy" magazine affleck says a man allegedly stalking his wife jennifer garner and family for years, basically used a crowd of paparazzi as a cover to standout side his daughter's preschool. he says, they used to take pictures of our children, coming out of preschool. and so this stalker, who had threatened to kill me my wife and our kids showed up at the school and got arrested. i mean, there are real practical dangers to this. in the 2009 incident steven burke was arrested for violating a restraining order. he was found not guilty by reason of insapty and later sent

to a mental hospital by a judge. garner has been a major force behind california's new anti-paparazzi law, which increases the penalties for taking photos and invade a celebrity's right to privacy. joined halle berry tearfully testifying in front of the state assembly. >> i love my kids. they're beautiful and sweet and innocent and i don't want a gang of shouting, arguing, law-breaking photographers who camp out everywhere we are, all day, every day, to continue traumatizing my kids. >> reporter: she told cnn's chris cuomo she's hoping the new law will bring a change in her life. >> i'm looking forward to january 1st when the law will go into effect, but no, so far i haven't seen a bit of difference. the threat of it is not enough. there are ten cars outside my house every single morning. >> reporter: in the article affleck says he can handle the attention but he says his kids aren't celebrities and they deserve a little privacy. he said, the tragic thing is,

people who see those pictures, naturally think it's sweet. they don't see the gigantic former gang member with a huge lens standing over a 4-year-old and screaming to get the kid's attention. michele turner, cnn, hollywood. still to come in the "newsroom" -- >> ditka! >> 8 degrees at soldier field, perfect weather for the bears to honor a franchise legend. >> thank you very much. thank you. i can say thank you, thank you, thank you. .

still recovering from the lions' loss and now we have to talk about the bears because they bundled up and beat the bears on monday night football. andy scholes, i'm going to discover my ears. >> this game stuck with the winter weather theme from the week and last night's game in chicago, the coldest regular season game ever for the dallas cowboys. all right. the temperature -- >> and it showed, right? >> they were miserable. the temperature was 8 degrees with a windchill of negative 9 at kickoff. it was so cold that the water bottles were freezing. but look, didn't stop this crazy fan. >> always one shirtless guy. >> always one at least. doesn't matter if it's negative 9 outside. that poor guy didn't get to see a good game from the cowboys.

the bears win 45-28, got the big win on mike ditka night. the bears held a ceremony to honor their legendary head coach and retire his number. >> i've been living the dream for 74 years. i hope it never stops. it will, but i hope it doesn't. thank you, thank you, thank you. and go bears! >> that's awesome. >> i love it. i love the go bears. you can see he was definitely cold. >> i'm surprised it took this long to do that actually. >> he's a legend in the city but hey, it was good to see it happen finally last night even though it was very, very cold. record-tying six players have been chosen as finalists for the heisman trophy. jameis winston is the overwhelming favorite to whip the award now that he's been cleared of sexual assault charges. but who gets second, third, fourth, fifth, six snths anybody's guess. johnny manziel from texas a and m will be at the announcement saturday night with alabama's aj mccarron, trey

mason, jordan lynch and boston college's andre williams. university of oregon player farrell brown has been suspended from playing in the alamo bowl for his part in a snowball fight on campus. this incident was caught on video. it shows students, including several football players, blocking the vehicle. very tired university professor. they were pelting him with snow balls as he exits the car. other student athletes have been disciplined for their part in the incident and once the school concludes their investigation, further discipline could be handed down by the dean of students. >> they continued to pelt him after he got out of the car. >> yeah. >> just -- >> very inappropriate. >> they don't like this professor. >> they were all having a nice fun snowball fight and turned on a pedestrian. >> ugly. >> really bizarre. >> if you're going to the super bowl in new jersey this year, carol, better leave that grill at home. there will be no tailgating at this year's game according -- >> that's un-american.

>> right. this is the biggest game of the year, not going to let people do what they do at every football game and that's tailgate. the ceo of the super bowl committee says you can eat and drink next to your car but you have to remain in the boundaries of your single parking space. you can't grill, but i guess if you want -- >> paste your body up against the car and drink a beer. >> want to brink a turkey sandwich and hold your beer you can stand in between two cars and have jyourself a nice meal. if you're going to the super bowl -- >> you're eating at a fine restaurant. >> jo sh mo is not going to the super bowl. >> joe shmos are more fun, though. the next hour of cnn "newsroom" starts now. good morning. i'm carol costello. thanks so much for being with me. it's going to be another wet snowy and cold day across the mid-atlantic and northeast. this is a live look from philadelphia where it's above freezing right now. we just lost that camera because it's frozen! but lots of snow coming down. you can see from the radar, of

course, it's affecting air travel. philly's international airport is seeing ground delays topping four hours. here's a live look from the nation's capital. d.c. and philly could see up to 7 inches of snow before the day is done. cnn has reporters spread out across the region. fred pleitgen live in new york city, athena jones in mclane, virginia, along the george washington parkway. let's start there. looks nasty. >> you can't ask me -- >> athena? >> we're here in d.c., standing outside reagan national airport. the federal government is closed this morning, so we haven't seen at lot of traffic on the roads. of course they do that to try to avoid these freeways that look like parking lots when you a whole lot of snow in situations like this. i can tell you that d.c. area airports like reagan national and washington dulles airport say their operations have mot been significantly impacted. there have some flights precanceled but we in the last few minutes have seen several flights take off from here. the visibility is bad but you

hear them flying overhead. i should mention just because the federal government is closed, it doesn't mean that everything is ground to a halt. there was supposed to be on capitol hill an investigative hearing into the asean na airlines crash in san francisco, that's off, but the hearing with secretary of state john kerry about the iran nuclear deal and the house foreign relations committee that's on. the senate is in session today. they'll be dealing with some of these nominees that were blocked previously by republicans in the senate. there's a confirmation vote today for patricia mullet up to be a district court judge on the d.c. circuit court of appeals and also going to try to move forward on the confirmation of representative mel watts, to head up the federal housing finance agency. he was blocked a few weeks back as well, so they're going to try to move forward on that and under new rules they just need 51 votes to do so. we could see that confirmation vote happening by day's end. so government is closed, but doesn't mean everything has

stopped. carol? >> allrigh that's good. athena jones, thanks so much. we're going to head to new york city to check in with fred pleitgen but his camera is freezing so move on to other news. we have to talk about the memorial for nelson mandela now. thousands of people, nearly 100 world leaders among them, packing a johannesburg soccer stadium to pay tribute to the former south african president. one of the highlights of the day, a speech by president obama who spoke about mandela's impact. >> mandela taught us the power of action, but he also taught us the power of ideas. the importance of reason and arguments, the need to study not only those who you agree with, but also those who you don't agree with. >> cnn political analyst and executive editor of" the daily beast" john avalon jonins me frm new york. >> good morning, carol. >> thanks for being here. president obama got a standing ovation after his speech was

done. your thoughts? >> it was a powerful, powerful speech. the president really drawing into themes about mandela's own personal inspiration to him as a young college student, becoming active in politics and world affairs because of the struggles of apartheid and it really was classic obama to a great extent. he really was hitting the rhetorical notes and hat the crowd clearing. it was a proud moment. >> there were a lot of great moments to see, like four american presidents were there, all together, that was a beautiful thing to see. 100 world leaders, of all political stripes, that was great to see. all in one place. and then there was this moment with president obama shaking hands with raul castro, who is, of course, the president of cuba, as you know, john, the united states and cuba aren't exactly the best of friends so this moment took a lot of people by surprise. >> yeah. i guess there are two ways to read that. one is awkward. the other way is look, mandela

is bringing people together even in his death. i do think that there's a reality check here. i mean raul castro is a dictator. nelson mandela was a liberator. while no doubt president obama is catching hell on some twitter feeds on the right side of the spectrum for shaking hands with raul castro he did have a specific line in his speech that seemed to be targeted to mr. castro, saying there are too many that claim solidarity with mandela but don't tolerate dissent for their own people. that was a point at castro in particular. >> president obama as you said, he took time to directly address his counterparts and urge them to better follow mandela's example. let's listen. >> there are too many people who happily embrace madiba's legacy of racial reconciliation but passionately resist even modest reforms that would challenge chronic poverty and growing inequality. there are too many leaders who claim solidarity with madiba's struggle for freedom, but do not

tolerate dissent from their own people. and there are too many of us, too many of us on the sidelines comfortable in complacency or cynicism, when our voices must be heard. >> he could have been talking about any country in the world but it seems like he was talking about the united states. am i wrong? >> i don't think he was speaking exclusively about the united states but that was the heart of the speech. i mean, when he rebuked that implicit rebuke to the cas stros and mugabes, the dictators that often claim solidarity with mandela, that was to a national audience. that rebuke not content to sit on the sidelines, be cynical, resist reforms and ignore the growing gap of inequality that is a domestic message as well, one that resonates more widely.

the president was speaking from the heart here. these are moral themes as well as political themes. a tribute to mandela as a man who was able to free his jailers as well as the captives, but at the same time, really a message for folks at home. that's one of the reasons why i think this speech just might endure beyond the event itself. >> the president also said during his speech that one of the great things about mandela is he studied the other side's views, to really try to understand them, so he could come up with effective arguments and that there could be a true meeting of the minds. wouldn't that be nice if that could happen here? >> wouldn't that be nice? it is a lesson. it's one of the reasons nelson mandela's life still inspires us all. that real focus on reconciliation, on being the lawyer on robben island and making arguments that were ultimately able not only to persuade but to change the politics of a nation, that kind of moral leadership is rare in the world but it's the kind of thing that transforms cultures and environments and on a smaller scale, yeah, we could

use a lot more of it here at home. >> john avalon, thanks for your insight this morning. appreciate it. >> thanks, carol. as i said nearly 100 heads of state, a-list celebrities and thousands of everyday south africans young and old alike braved the heavy rain to join the mandela family and pay tribute to the revered states man. live in joe hans burg this morning with some of the morning's best moments. >> reporter: yes, welcome to the area outside the home of late president nelson mandela. you know there's been a lot of activity here. you may hear some screaming next to me and that's because supermodel naomi campbell has just come here to the home of the late president, waved to the crowd, and walked inside. you know there's a lot of rain and gloom around me, but anyone who doesn't think there can be joy amid storms needs to come to south africa now and see the atmosphere here on a day when we've seen the first formal memorial for the anti-apartheid

icon. here are a few highlights from just the past few hours. >> reporter: in front of a packed stadium here in johannesburg, president obama delivered his very personal thoughts on the legacy of nelson mandela. >> and while i will always fall short of madiba's example, he makes me want to be a better man. he speaks to what's best inside us. nelson mandela reminds us it seems impossible until it's done. south africa shows that is true, south africa shows we can change. that we can choose a world defined not by our differences but by our common hopes. it matters not how straight the gate, how charged the punishment, i am the master of my fate, i am the captain of my

soul, what a magnificent soul it was. >> reporter: those words spoken minutes after an unprecedented sight, obama sharing the stage and shaking hands with cuban president raul castro. an image most people never thought they would see happen and won't soon be forgotten. the festivities started hours before the ceremony even began. there was singing, dancing, and celebration. the wet weather not dampening spirits. >> we were not able to stop the rain. when it rains when you're buried, it means that your welcoming you. >> reporter: singing the south african national anthem. this followed by prayer.

>> reporter: leaders and public figures from 91 different nations, including president obama, first lady michele obama, waved to a roaring crowd. mandela's grandchildren who ignited the cheers of the entire stadium. >> we tower over the walls, leaving streaks of light for us to follow. >> reporter: in fact, those overwhelming cheers forcing a good natured plea for order. >> can we appeal for those behind the stage to please tone down their singing. >> reporter: and we're only halfway through these ten days of memorials for nelson mandela. tomorrow we will see nelson mandela's body lying in state at the union building in pretoria, significant because it's the same location where he was sworn in as the first democratically elected and black president 20 years ago. his body will lie in state wednesday through friday and his funeral will be this upcoming

weekend. but for the moment the exciting news in to cnn for some is that supermodel naomi campbell has just visited the home of late president nelson plan della. >> all right. we'll have pictures of that later i'm sure. errol barnett live from johannesburg this morning. coming up in the ne"newsroo" a desperate search in the nevada mountains, freezing, cold and snowy and a family of six is missing, including four children. the latest on the search next. every day we're working to be an even better company - and to keep our commitments. and we've made a big commitment to america. bp supports nearly 250,000 jobs here. through all of our energy operations, we invest more in the u.s. than any other place in the world. in fact, we've invested over $55 billion here in the last five years - making bp america's largest energy investor. our commitment has never been stronger.

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congress over the fragile iran nuclear agreement. a bipartisan group of lawmakers now preparing a possible vote on new sanction against tehran. jim shooto live in washington where the white house has warned new penalties could threaten the historic deal. good morning. >> good morning, carol. he's going to have a tough sell, secretary kerry on the hill today. it's a bipartisan push for new sankships. he's facing some powerful senators. certainly the republicans, but also the democratic chairman of the senate foreign relations committee, bob menendez, chuck schumer, powerful senator from new york, expressing support for the new sanctions bill. that's a problem for the administration. and when you look at the sanctions they're proposing they run directly counter to many elements in the interim deal that was just negotiated two weeks ago in geneva, particularly on this issue of uranium enrichment. the president reiterating this weekend he's comfortable with iran having a modest, monitored enrichment program in the country. senators disagree.

they want is done, stopped, completely and that's a problem going forward. secretary kerry is going to have a tough case to make. jim shooto, reporting live from washington. thank you. checking our top stories at 17 minutes past, text messages sent by the so-called cliff bride around the time of her husband's death could prove to be a motive for murder. prosecution continues its case in the trial of jordan graham. prosecutors say graham was unhappy in the eight days she was married to cody johnson and pushed him off a cliff in glacier national park in montana. 18 sheriff deputies in los angeles county accused of beating inmates and covering it up. that's according to a new indictment. the charges range from civil rights violations to blatant lying. current sheriff says 99.9% of his deputies do the right thing and that nobody is above the law. rescuers are desperately trying to find a couple and four missing children in nevada. had they vanished after going out to play in the snow.

the search is taking place in pershing county in northwest nevada where the temperature has dipped to below zero. cnn's pamela brown is following the story. tell us more, pamela. >> carol, i just go got off the phone with authorities y s iies pershing and they say no trace of this couple and the children. thermal imaging helicopters were out overnight searching for them. 34-year-old james glanton and 25-year-old christina macintee and their two children 3 and 4 years old and niece and nephew, 4 and 10 years old. authorities say no one has been located yet. it really is a race against the clock today, as search and rescue teams from surrounding counties resume the aerial and ground search. they're going to be looking for the family's silver jeep with a black top. the hope is that this family stayed inside the jeep and are able to keep warm rather than venturing out in the frigid temperatures. since they went missing, carol, temperatures have dipped to as low as 17 below zero in this

remote region of nevada. >> the temperatures out here are very cold and we'd like to bring a successful end to this. we'd like to find them just as soon as we can. >> we just got to find them. we've known them forever, you know, and those tiny kids can't be out there. none can be out there in the cold. >> reporter: and this family, carol, was last seen sunday at 2:00 in the afternoon after going out to play in the snow. their family members reported them missing at 8:00 that night after they were unable to get in touch with them and there still hasn't been communication from this missing family. it's unclear if they had any supplies with them such as food, water, a fuel tank that would allow their jeep to keep running with the heat on. of course, carol, this is a dire situation like this with these subzero temperatures and every minute counts as the search and rescue efforts resume today. >> i know they have lots of searchers out and i know a navy helicopter is being employed, so

man, that's really scary. pamela brown, thanks so much. still to come in the "newsroom," a day after the government sells its remaining shares, general motors names its very first female ceo. details next. [ male announcer ] if you can clear a crowd but not your nasal congestion, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec-d®. powerful relief of nasal congestion and other allergy symptoms -- all in one pill.

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general motors has just done something historic. yes, they've named a woman as its next ceo. her name is mary barra. let's head to new york to find out more. alison kosik is there. good morning. >> good morning.

the thing with mary barra she's not just going to be the first ceo of general motors but the first woman to head a major automaker ever. she's replacing dan akerson. here's a bit of a bio on her. 53 years old, been with gm. she's become quite the super star. she started i love this as an intern on the factory floor at the age of 18 to help pay tuition while she was getting an electrical engineering degree and reportedly said recently that being a car gal rather than a car guy, has never stood in her way. she said, it's about no kidding results and no kidding is right. she's been a leader in gm's turnaround since the company emerged from bankruptcy. she's even listed as number 35 on "forbes"s list of the top power women. power on. >> you're not kidding. that's fantastic. alison kosik, thanks so much. still to come in the "newsroom," a single mom with little hope.

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good morning. i'm carol costello. thanks so much for joining me. the snow is coming down hard in several major east coast cities. philly, d.c. and new york seeing the second round of the -- of a massive storm that's dumped heavy snow and ice across much of the country. snow affecting travel on the ground and in the air. cnn's fred pleitgen live in new york city now to tell us more. good morning. >> good morning, carol. how are you doing? the snow has intensified in the past couple hours. we expect it to peak around maybe noon, lunch time. as i said, it started about 9:00 this morning so it missed the early morning rush hour. however, for many new yorkers and many people working around this area, the evening commute could actually be a problem. information, the city seems to be prepared for all of this. they have 365 salt spreaders that are driving around town right now spreading that pumpkin

colored salt all over the street. also, about 1400 snow plows that are in action as well. about the same picture in the new jersey area, a lot of the highways have been salted. the latest information we're getting there, there don't seem to be too bad delays in the new jersey area but the airports are a different story. we were talking about this earlier, newark is going to get hit badly by a lot of cancellations and delays. some of that has to do with the fact not only is it snowing badly and the snow is picking up but the visibility is really poor in this area. carol? >> if you're flying out of new york city or philadelphia or washington, d.c., please call ahead. fred pleitgen, try to stay warm. thanks so much. > . >> they met only once but to president obama nelson mandela's influence went beyond that hastily arranged meeting some eight years ago. now, today, when the world gathered to pay tribute to the late south african leader, president obama spoke to what he

called mandela's greatest gift. >> mandela understood the ties that bind the human spirit. there's a word in south africa. his recognition that we are all bound together in ways that are invisible to the eye, that there's a oneness to humanity, that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others and caring for those around us. >> president obama was joined by several of his predecessors, jimmy carter, bill clinton and george w. bush along with a congressional delegation that included members of the house and senate. wolf blitzer is in washington and joins me now. hi, wolf. >> good morning, carol. >> part of that delegation included senator ted cruz, tea party republican. he was slammed by some of his constituents for praising mandela. what do you make of that?

>> well, obviously there's going to be some who are criticize not only ted cruz but newt gingrich one of the new co-hosts of cnn's "cross fire" for praising nelson mandela. when you think of what mandela achieved during the course of his lifetime when he went through, what led to a peaceful transition from a racist apartheid regime to a regime in south africa where he tried to bring everyone together it was an incredible evolvement and almost single handily avoided a civil war that would have been brutal, he deserves praise. ted cruz, newt gingrich, other republicans including mitch mcconnell who was on the senate floor, the republican leader in the senate praising nelson mandela profusely, they deceise a lot of credit for accurately recalling what this man achieved in south africa. a historic figure, truly wonderful man. i was privileged to have met him. i sat down for my one-on-one interview with him back in march

of 1998 and it was one of the great moments of my journalistic career. >> i can understand that. another headline-making moment, i guess i could call it today, when president obama shook hands with the cuban president raul castro. president carter called it, quote, significant and said he hopes it will be an omen for the future. does it mean anything? >> i think it does. i think, you know, it potentially could mean something. let's see what happens if there's a follow through, if the cubans, for example, were to release alan gross, the american who's been held in cuba now for four years, four years, if raul castro, there you see him in the middle of the screen right now, he's pretty happy, he was smiling. there is the president kissing the president of brazil over there, even though she snubbed the united states a few weeks ago, canceling a state visit to the united states because of nsa surveillance supposedly going on in brazil. there's the kiss once again. but if, in fact, cuban president raul castro were to do something

right now, make that gesture, release alan gross, i think there could be an improvement in u.s./cuban relations. i have no doubt president obama would like to see an improvement. had he's been working for that, but there's not going to be any improvement as long as alan gross is held. >> wolf blitzer, thanks for your insight this morning, we appreciate it. much more to come in "the situation room" i'm sure. the debate over hiking the minimum wage is causing a split among democrats on capitol hill. house minority leader nancy pelosi is among those calling for an increase to $10.10 an hour, but there are other democrats, centrist democrats, who oppose the increase. those democrats are tighter with wall street and business interests. beyond the political divide, there are americans fighting to support their families on low wages and there are many of them. cnn's poppy harlow talked with one woman who is struggling. good morning, poppy. >> good morning to you, carol. yeah. the story we're going to tell you is emblematic of this fight happening on main street across americap you're increasingly

seeing workers calling for $15 wages, what they call a living wage, and as we see this fight play out on main street, wall street is watching the stock market hit record highs, increasingly what we're seeing here is really a tale of two americas. >> you have no money in your lunch account? >> no. >> not a dollar. >> reporter: at 29 joanna cruz is stuck in a job that pays $7.30. she works overnight at a deli 40 hours a week. her weekly paycheck, $244.70. what do you need to make to be able to get by on your own? i would have to make at least 14, $15 to live comfortably. >> do you add it up as you go? >> yeah. i have to. >> she's a single mom fighting to get by. don't be mistaken, she blames herself for not finishing high school and not going to college. but she tells me there has to be more she can achieve. >> there is no moving up.

i mean i might get a raise if i'm there long enough, but that's about it. >> for dinner. >> reporter: joanna's life mirrors her mother's. augusta cruz worked 30 years in a mat stress factory and said she never made more than $9 an hour. >> it's a vicious cycle for everybody. >> reporter: her mother provides the home joanna can't afford. >> if it weren't for you having them here under your roof where would joanna be? >> in the shelter in a street. >> reporter: years of low wage work has left joanna with little hope. >> i'm 29. by the time i finish school i'll be like 40. like, and then who's going to hire a 40-year-old, you know, just starting off with no experience? it's probably not going to happen. some days i don't want to try. >> tell me what you mean. >> i mean i just feel like what's the point? like, what's the point of trying? i'm not going to make it anyway. >> do you think from the outside looking in, people have any idea what you go through?

>> no. none. >> reporter: americans have long believed in a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. but we can't agree on what that wage is today. president obama supports raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to about $10 an hour, but critics argue that won't help. it will hurt, costing jobs and increasing prices. >> in general prices go up, people buy less and firms use less labor. you are better off if you earn a high wage clearly, but weigh that against the likelihood your employer is going to make due with fewer workers and you might be one of those. >> reporter: at the center of the debate fast food chains and big box retailers. in 2012 the average pay for a fast food worker was $9 an hour. for a retail worker, $12.17. both higher than minimum wage. still, tiffany, a part-time walmart worker, is among those demanding higher pay. >> i want more.

>> reporter: she's a member of our walmart, a union backed group that does not represent walmart workers but protests for higher wages. >> it isn't enough money for me to get by. it's very hard. we're at a standstill with my family. >> reporter: walmart's u.s. ceo say they pay a fair wage and are unfairly criticized. >> we pay above average wages for the retail industry and we provide incredible opportunity. the discussion around the starting wage, minimum wage, is one that the country needs to have. the debate needs to be had. that's not the issue. the issue isn't where you start, it's where you go to once you have started. >> you have two. >> reporter: tiffany wants more opportunity, but at $10.70 an hour she can't afford to work full-time given the child care costs she would need to cover. why doesn't she look for another job? >> i'm actually not unhappy with my job. i really like my job. i like being with the customers. so it's not -- i mean it's pointless for me to find a job. i would rather stay and fight. >> yeah. >> reporter: as for joanna her

pay will go up in january when minimum wage in new jersey increasing to $8.25 an hour. she will still struggle but hopes her children's lives will be better. >> it's not going to happen to my kids. it's not. i promise you that it's not going to happen to my kids. it's just not. i won't allow it to. >> reporter: and that's the question, carol. does this cycle continue? joanna's mom never made more than $9 an hour, joanna is making $7.30 an hour. what is life going to be like for her children? consider this fact, last year more than 12 million full-time, full-time working americans, made less than $20,000. and that is why we are seeing this fight play out on main street but the counter arguments, someone came up to me yesterday and said it on the street when we were doing this story is if you raise the minimum wage, how many jobs is that going to cost? that's the big question. >> and economists can't agree on the answer to that, right? >> right. >> they have mixed opinions. the other thing to keep in mind, a lot of successful people say

yeah, i worked in a deli and made minimum wage and look where i am now. i could say that about myself. i wasn't a single mother. i had parents who expected me to go to college. i was able to pay for my college education. a lot of other people don't have those advantages. so what's the answer? and i'm only saying -- we do need to have a national conversation, just like that guy at walmart told you, but we're not really having that conversation. we're just fighting about it. people on one side, people on the other, just like normal. >> we are absolutely fighting about it. we're -- we have these bills proposed in washington, senate democrats to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. the question that bill simon brought up, the u.s. ceo of walmart who we talked to before is the issue of mobility. you come in at one level but how can you rise higher? joanna feels like she can't rise higher. another important thing, carol, younger people used to be the majority of people who had these

jobs. increasingly, that's not what's happening. look at the data from last year. what it shows us is that out of all the hourly workers in this country, of those that make minimum wage or less, about 50% of them are 25 and older. so these aren't just teenagers' jobs anymore. joanna is 29, tiffany in our piece, not a teenager, that's an issue here too. how can you move up and higher? there is personal responsibility here as you heard joanna take, right? you have to put in your part too, but the question is, now should the government step in more? should companies be paying more? or is that going to cost us jobs? and i hope that this conversation can really, really continue in full steam as you said, carol. >> me too. poppy harlow, many thanks. still to come in the "newsroom," lights, camera, action, sarah palin has a new tv show outside the world of politics. we'll tell you all about it next. every day we're working to be an even better company -

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sarah palin is adding to her tv credits. the fox news contributor and former host of "sarah palin's alaska" has a brand new show in the pipeline. michele turner is here to tell us about about it. good morning. >> good morning, carol. you know this is a little bit of a departure for sarah palin because she's been a contributor on fox news. she also had the show "sarah palin's alaska" and even though they called her the host of that show, "sarah palin's alaska" it was more like a reality tv show. this show coming up she would be the host of. a weekly outdoors show. the sportsman channel says they

will celebrate the red, the wild and the blue lifestyle. i'm anxious to see what that means. the show is going to be called "amazing america." it debuts next april. the sportsman is a small channel in 32 million homes, less than a third of american households with televisions. they say their programming is geared to people that are interested in hunting, fishing and shooting. sarah palin's show will include stories about people and personalities and activities that are along the lines of that. there's 12 episodes to start, but i do think one interesting thing about this, carol, the show says that it doesn't want to be politically polarizing, but they hired one of the most polarizing political figures. so do with it as you will. >> and they're calling it red, white and blue. yeah. >> red, wild and blue. >> oh, okay. there's a distinction there. the sportsman channel, what else is on there? >> you know, it's interesting, they have a couple shows that

have done fairly well, but they don't have a lot of, you know, signature programming yet. i think they're trying to make this their signature show with sarah palin. it could work. you know, whatever you think about her politics, she has a personality for television. she really does. that kind of folksy style, that every woman, any town usa type of style works and it comes across on television, so we'll have to see what happens. although, her former show "sarah palin's alaska" did only last one season. it did not get renewed for a second season. we'll have to see how this one plays out. >> all right. initial tu michele turner thanks so much.

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fears of a tragic ending for a pod of stranded pilot whales. in the last week nearly half the group, 22 of them, died in florida's everglades national park. authorities are racing to save the 29 survivors, but they warn some or all of them could die too. scientists still trying to figure out exactly what's killing them. hundreds of people are still on board the "costa concordia" when the captain abandoned the ship. that testimony from the trial of captain fran chessco schettino taking place in italy right now. the captain faces charges of manslaughter, causing a mara time disaster and abandoning the cruise liner. it's going to be another wet, snowy and cold day across the mid-atlantic and the northeast. the region getting slammed for a second straight day. jennifer grey is here now. she's in the cnn severe weather center to tell us more. hi, jennifer. >> hi. yeah, if you are trying to fly in or out of the northeast you're not going anywhere any time soon. a lot of delays because of the weather. new york, almost a five-hour

delay right now as well as newark, laguardia, also jfk. we are delayed about an hour and 15 minutes there. but newark and laguardia, the main ones. of course, seeing delays in philly, chicago, charlotte, all across the northeast mainly and it's all due to this snow and low visibility. we have snow anywhere from d.c. to new york all the way up to boston. washington, you are on the back end of that, so it should be ending for you in the next couple hours. just a closer look, we're going to see anywhere from 1 to 2 inches of snow within the city. isolated amounts higher outside the city. the good news is, this is going to push out of here by this afternoon, so it's not going to sit on top of you for very long. it's going to move on out, but this is just one final blow from this system that has just wreaked havoc across all of the east. we are going to see isolated amounts, 3 to 5 inches of snow possible and this will move out and give us a little bit of a breather after today. >> i hope so. thanks so much, jennifer. still to come in the "newsroom," part intervention,

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s this just in to cnn the senate has confirmed patricia mullet to the u.s. court of appeals for the d.c. circuit. you might be saying so?

well, she's the first presidential nominee to be confirmed under new senate rules pushed through by democrats that make it harder for republicans to filibuster presidential appointmen appointments. so there you have it. patricia mullet now a judge. finally this morning, for the friends of one kentucky man it was a prank with a message all in the hopes of stopping him from drinking and driving. jeanne moos has more for you. >> reporter: who deserves a prank in fools you into believing you're waking up. >> oh, my gosh. >> reporter: from a ten-year long coma. >> my son was 2 years old when you came in here. and he's 12 now. >> reporter: we know only his first name, dennis. his friends say he has a long history of driving under the influence. >> he drinks quite a bit. i mean we could do this bit any given night. >> reporter: the bit involved turning an office into a hospital room and when dennis passed out from drinking, they say they carried him in. under the care of a fake nurse and doctors. >> i know you're confused,

little disoriented. >> reporter: dennis was only out for about three hours or so. the pranksters say he was still intoxicated when he woke up. >> you were out drinking, you decided to drive and there was an accident. the accident took place back in 2013. it's 2023. you've been in a coma for the past ten years. >> reporter: who would do something like this? tom is a professional prankster, but in this case, he said he was worried about his friend's drinking so this was half prank, half intervention. >> watch a little television if you can. >> reporter: former songstress and actress miley cyrus is facing eviction from a trailer park. back in 2015 she was busted for cooking meth in her double wide. >> it was hard to believe at first. we go through all the stuff looking at it and say is that fake? >> he was totally hook line and sinker up to the point he recognizes me. this is 100% real.

>> reporter: this is tom dressed up like a doctor. >> what do you recall? >> drinking. that's all i remember. >> reporter: then the doctor -- >> feel that? >> reporter: slaps some sense into him. feel that? >> yeah. yeah. >> reporter: with the doctor's mask off, dennis recognized tom. >> it's not funny. it's not funny. >> five duis! >> i'm going to kill you. >> he laughed a lot. he laughed a whole whole lot. he thought we got -- man you guys got me. you got me. i'm not sure that he learned a lesson. >> reporter: some posters were mad. turned his addiction into a joke. tom says they're pushing to get dennis into a program. after all, dui can leave someone else in a real coma. when dennis came out of this one, slap happy. >> dude you [ bleep ] got to stop this. >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> thinking about that one all

day. thanks for joining me today. i'm carol costello. "legal view quit ashleigh banfield" starts now. >> hi, everybody. welcome to new york city. it is december 10th and no greater place than the holidays to be with new york city and central park. nice dusting of snow behind me that is if the weather is really bad and you can't get here. here's the deal today. when it comes to the weather, if you live somewhere between california and new york, there's a pretty good chance you're either going to have snow, some ice, rain, or it's going to be pretty darn cold where you live, at least colder than you're used to. a lot of schools are closed and the government shut down. this time, it wasn't something they did. it was mother nature that did it. i want to take you around the country right now so